Germany thrash England to reach last eight

Bloemfontein: Germany, fuelled by a second half double from Thomas Mueller, crushed long-standing rivals England 4-1 in a controversy-filled World Cup encounter on Sunday to book a spot in the last eight.

Slick counter-attacking combined with clinical finishing saw the Germans overwhelm England's shaky-looking defence and put Germany through to a quarter-final clash against either Argentina or Mexico who play later on Sunday.

"Against England you'll give up goal chances at some point. They have so many good players," Mueller said.

"We had some luck and took the lead. After we went 3-1 up, we improved and the match was soon over after that."

Image:Miroslav Klose scores the opening goal for Germany past England goalkeeper David James